Elsberry Indians hold nothing back as season comes to an end

Senior Point Guard Charles Fraction floats to the bucket against the Oran Eagles at Sectionals.

Our boys went a lot further this season than many people were expecting them to, especially after losing such a large number of senior starters last year.

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year, but the team wasn’t thinking that when they left their blood and guts out there during every game and I for one was always impressed by their effort and their courage, but how did the team’s performance look from a coaching standpoint?

Did Indians Head Coach Ryan Parker expect the team to go as far as it did this year, or was he pleasantly surprised and how did the actual season compare with the goals he set at the very beginning?

“We talk about goals and expectations every year and those goals and expectations don’t ever change,” said Parker.

In case you’re wondering, those goals are very simple; win their conference, win districts and win state.

As Meat Loaf would say, “two out of three ain’t bad.”

“This season has been somewhat of a learning experience for us all,” said Parker. “We knew there would be some growing pains and there were. As for expecting this team to go this far, absolutely. We expect to be playing in these games year in and year out.”

Are there things that Parker would do differently if he had the chance?

“I think you can go back and second guess just about everything throughout the year,” said Parker. “Our guys were playing their best basketball late in the year and that’s all you can ask for.”

Despite playing their best basketball late in the year, the boys lost their final post-season game by twelve-points in overtime and Parker knows the team could have done some things differently.

“I think a big time game down the stretch with guys who have never played in that sort of game can be difficult,” said Parker. “We made some mental mistakes down the stretch and didn’t take care of the ball the entire game, but our game plan was spot on and we held them to 52-points in regulation when they average 70 plus points a game.”

Parker stated how even though the loss was a tough one, there are lessons that can be learned from such a defeat.

For more on this and other stories pick up your copy of The Elsberry Democrat today from one of our several locations. You can also sign up for the online edition by visiting http://elsberrydemocrat.com and clicking on Subscribe…